Inverness
I mentioned that I would be cooking for some friends a while back, well it was a great success. I made my curry recipe that I posted a while back, every one said it was good, I served it with chapatis, yogurt mint rita, mango pickle and saffron rice. Mhairi had also brought some home made brochette which whilst feeling quite unsure about how my curry would turn out I felt quite reassured was there!
The trip was great fun, Martin and Linseys holiday home was amazing, I only wish I had more time to explore the surrounding country. I did take the opportunity to visit Loch Ness, which was absolutely beautiful in the spring time sun.
My kitchen for the weekend:
View from the house, notice the snow still on the surrounding mountains, apparently it was a good skiing year in Scotland:

Loch Ness visitors centre: (not much going on here...)

And if you like that sort of thing you'll probably like (Brave Heart):

There is a ridiculous entry fee to see the Urquhart castle ruin but the unrestricted views of Loch Ness are definitely worth it. The visitors centre also has very interesting displays and facts about the castle (which dates back to the year 1230 or further) as well as the mandatory, extortionate gift shop and cafe:

There's a poor guy in a prison (as if being a ginger wasn't bad enough!):

View of Loch:
Castle, Loch...

...and loo:

The weather began to look a little moody so we didn't stay too long, but I would recommend a visit here:

King scallops, fresh muscles, fish, in a warm spicy coconut milk sauce... You cant really go wrong with ingredients like that, can you?

This is something I made when I had a surplus of good seafood in the fridge that needed to be used fast. (there arnt many quantities in this recipe-sorry)

First of all boil some noodles and then set them aside, in a large pot heat some oil and then fry half a chopped onion or a few shallots, on a low heat until soft then add some crushed garlic. when the pan is very hot chuck in the mussels and a little liquid (stock) cover the pan with a lid and cook the mussels for about 4 minutes, when done remove the mussels from the pan and discard any that failed to open. Add half a can of crushed tomatoes and as much of the juice as possible also add fish stock about 400ml and half a can of coconut milk(250ml). To this mixture I added 1 tbs of red Thai curry paste 1 tbs of white wine vinegar, 2 tbs fish sauce, juice of 1 lime, and 1/2 tbs of sugar. Mix the soup so all ingredients are combined then place some white fish fillets into the broth bring to the boil over medium-high heat. lift some of th efish out to check for done-ness, and when its nearly ready add the scallops and prawns (and calamari if using) to the pot. Cook for a further two minutes. Season, then garnish with some chopped corriander squeez a little more lime juice in if needed. Divide noodles among however many bowls, and top with broth and seafood.

Thirsty?

(This is an energy drink...)